Longtime Nueces County District Attorney investigator leaves big shoes to fill after retirement

TODD YATES/CALLER-TIMES
Craig Hill, chief district attorney investigator, is surround by years of memories in the office he occupied for 42 years. Hill retired from the position in January.

Corpus Christi Caller-Times

CORPUS CHRISTI - It didn't take much to convince Craig Hill to choose a career in law enforcement.

A summer job patrolling the beaches for speeders and talking to girls determined his path.

"If that's law enforcement then that's for me," said Hill, who was told he'd need only a khaki shirt, cowboy hat and a gun for the 1969 job with Nueces County.

Hill spent more than four decades in law enforcement. The now 65-year-old retired in January from the Nueces County District Attorney's Office after spending 42 years as chief investigator.

Hill was offered the job in 1971 by former District Attorney William Mobley. Over the years the faces at the top changed — Mobley, Jack Hunter, Grant Jones, Carlos Valdez, Anna Jimenez and Mark Skurka. Through it all, Hill remained a constant.

"I think he's been there longer than anyone," Jones said. "He's a loyal and dedicated public servant, the best of the best."

Hill was the go-to guy for almost anything at the office, Jones and Skurka agreed.

He located witnesses for trials, filed paperwork for extraditions, contacted prison systems for records, assisted prosecutors in trial preparation, took complaints, presented cases to grand jury and collected fees for hot checks.

Hill has worked more cases than he can count, but one will always be the most memorable — the case of Yolanda Saldivar, the woman convicted of the 1995 slaying of Tejano singer Selena Quintanilla.

He pointed to a black binder on a bookshelf in his office as he recalled Saldivar's three-week murder trial in Houston, where the high-profile case was moved to ensure a fair trial.

"It was a logistical nightmare," Hill said. "Finding a place to store evidence, shuffling witnesses and typing stuff because you don't have a secretary. It was tough."

Hill contacted an investigator in Houston at the time of the trial who helped by providing extra staff and storage to make the trial run more smoothly.

Hill's Houston contact is one of 11,000 across the state he's made in county, state and federal offices. He's kept a log on his computer of every person he's contacted as part of the job.

"I probably know an investigator in almost every county," he said.

But now Hill, who looks forward to a wardrobe filled with colorful Hawaiian shirts, has set the files, contacts and cases aside to enjoy a few hobbies and spend time with his wife when she retires from a credit union in May.

"Retirement is kind of a cultural shock if you don't have other interests," he said. "I fish, I hunt, I golf."

All joking aside, he said, he'll miss the office's family atmosphere the most.

"I grew up here."

Weeks after Hill started his retirement, his office remains intact with plaques, photos and memorabilia on the walls. One photo of Hill in 1984 captures him working security when then President Ronald Reagan visited Corpus Christi.

"It'll be extremely difficult to replace him," Skurka said. "We may get someone else to sit in his chair, but we'll never find someone that can fill his shoes."

Hill plans on returning to the office to help with cases on a volunteer basis and will remain a contract investigator for the Nueces County Medical Examiner's Office for the days when he needs to get out of the house.

Otherwise he'll be on his motorcycle traveling across the state to visit family and friends.